47-year-old Bernard Hopkins (left) has been a legend, but after Saturday night it was clear that Chad Dawson is the best light heavy weight in the world. Photo by Mel Evans/AP
Age catches up to Hopkins, as well as up coming big time fights.
Age seems to have finally caught up with Bernard Hopkins, as it was evident in the performance he gave in the ring last Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J.
A young and strong Chad Dawson gave Hopkins lots of trouble through out the bout and it seemed that he could not quite pull the trigger and find the range to stop the relentless assault coming from Dawson.
There is not too many guys at 47 years old that can keep up the pace now a days with the young fighters who are quick, fast, conditioned, and strong in the ring today.
Hopkins started off trying to use the manhandling wrestling tactics against Dawson that he used previously, but this time it did not work. As the bout progressed, Dawson was able to find his range, and connect with upper cuts and jabs that seemed to frustrate Hopkins. Hopkins did not engage in a close encounter fight with Hopkins by keeping the bout in the center of the ring through out, allowing him to score points with the judges.
At the end of the day it was Dawson who got the majority decision and took home the WBC light heavyweight title.
With this win Dawson improved his record to 31-1 with 17 coming by way of knockout.
Hopkins’s record is now 52-6-2 with 32 knockouts. Most ringside observers believe that it’s time for him to sit down and count all that money that he’s made and continue to be a partner with Oscar De La Hoya in Golden Boy Promotions.
Hopkins is definitely Hall of Fame material with all that he has accomplished in the ring, so he really does not have anything else to prove.
As this year continues to progress, there is a very crowded boxing schedule ahead that happens to feature quite a number of African American fighters.
In addition to Floyd Mayweather going against Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley vs. Canelo Alvarez this weekend, just two weeks after that on May 19 there is Lamont Peterson going against Amir Khan in their rematch from last year’s exciting fight of the year candidate. And this one should leave “No Doubt” (which is what this fight is being titled) in anyone’s mind as to who really is the champion of the junior welterweight division.
More importantly, there are two major boxing events that will be held locally here in Los Angeles on June 2 and 23.
Antonio Tarver will go against Lateef Kayote to defend his IBO cruiserweight title, Winky Wright will go against Peter ” Kid Chocolate” Quillin, and Austin Trout will fight Delvin Rodriguez to defend his WBA 154 lb title.
The most interesting match of these should be the Tarver vs. Kayote bout. Tarver has a ring record of 29-6 with 20 coming by way of knockout and he is totally confident in stopping Kayote who is undefeated in 18 fights.
“He’s in my way,” Tarver said. “He’s standing in the way of destiny and that’s it. I’m coming into this fight focused. I know he’s coming with his power, his aggressiveness and his attitude, but attitude never beat me. In order to beat me, you better have an exceptional gift of talent, and I don’t see that from him.”
Kayote, who is being trained by Freddie Roach, is taking a big leap in competition in fighting Tarver.
“It is easy to speak from outside the ring, but when he feels my power hit his body, it will be different than watching it with a fancy suit on,” Kayote said.
Kayote was alluding to the fact that Tarver is a ringside analyst for the Showtime Network and has worked most of Kayote’s fights for them.
This should make for an exciting match nevertheless, and it will be telecast live on Showtime from the Home Depot Center.
And coming up on June 23 at the Staples Center is the much awaited rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto. The first time they fought, they knocked each other down in a grueling contest in which Ortiz ended capturing the title from Berto.
Berto says things will be much different this time around as he intends to avenge the lost that occurred in April 2011. This fight will also be telecast live on the Showtime Network.
Check out the Sentinel Sports Section on Facebook and Twitter.
Sentinel Sports Section Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Los-Angeles-Sentinel-Sports-Section/137328139648009
Sentinel Sports Twitter page:
